Drillz and Skillz/Breakthrough Basketball “Attack and Counter” Skills Clinic in the Chicago Area

By Don Kelbick

Drillz and Skillz/Breakthrough Basketball “Attack and Counter” Skillz Clinic in Chicago Area

The Drillz and Skillz/Breakthrough Basketball “Attack and Counter” Skills Clinic held in Libertyville, Il (40 minutes outside of Chicago) is history and was a great success.

Held in the Libertyville Athletic Complex, the clinic welcomed 60 players and at least 2 dozen coaches for the weekend clinic. The Libertyville Athletic Complex is an unbelievable facility. Indoors it houses a fitness center, boxing center, 2 soccer fields, multiple volleyball courts and too many basketball courts to count. We used 12 baskets to work out 60 players.

Friday we started with footwork and looked at it from several different angles. A good 3 hour evening workout that introduced the footwork and the mentality that have worked so well in improving players. The rest of the weekend was spent applying that footwork and mentality to basketball situations.

On Saturday, we worked on shooting, coming off screens and ball screens. Sunday was the day for post drills, fast break drills, ball handling and a few games of 1 on 1. All in all players took between 800-1000 shots for the weekend.

The players were extremely hard workers and were great to work with. Players continue to amaze me. When they give themselves to you, it is incredible how quickly they improve.

Not lost in the shuffle were the coaches. Many of them came to watch  but when I invited them to come on the court and help out, many of them did so. The weekend could not have been a success without them.

I am looking forward to the next clinic.

For more information on Don Kelbick, go to www.DonKelbickBasketball.com

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School and You

By Joe Haefner

Here is another guest blog by our coaching friend Bud Leonard.

You will often hear stories of “student athletes” on the radio or TV.

There are many stories written about “student athletes” in the newspaper and in magazines such as Sports Illustrated.

You may even hear stories about “student athletes” in everyday conversation.

There is one common thread among these stories: they are all about students who are athletes. The “student” part is the most important, and deservedly so.

You are here at your school to receive a complete and valuable education. Everything else is second to that goal! Basketball is considered as an extracurricular activity; that means outside of the classroom.

Is basketball important? We, the coaching staff, feel that it is. But, we also know that it is secondary to your primary purpose here: to get an education.

Playing basketball, or any other sport, while in school is a privilege, not a right! You probably know by now that a privilege is earned through hard work, and can be removed if the hard work is not continued. Basketball is one of the important privileges.

We expect all of our players to be diligent in their studies and to be leaders in the school. You may not realize this, but you will be known, and probably respected, by your classmates as part of their basketball team. This is not a joke, nor is it something to be taken lightly. Your behavior and deportment, both on and off the basketball court, will be judged by everyone: coaches, staff, students, parents, and friends.

Part of being a successful and respected basketball team comes from your behavior and performance in everyday situations off the basketball court and in the classrooms and hallways of the school.

The coaching staff will expect you to act in a manner that will not detract from the team, but one that will identify you as one of the student leaders in the school. This expectation starts from the time you decide to try to gain the privilege of being a member of the Basketball Team and continues throughout your career here at school!

It is now time for you to make the decision to mold yourself into what will be expected of you by the coaching staff in order to earn yourself a position on the Basketball Team.

It all starts now!

- Coach Bud Leonard

Does Stationary Ball Handling Waste Valuable Practice Time?

By Joe Haefner

Many players will spend 10 to 20 minutes or even more on stationary ball handling during practice or a skill session. I see players do it in the gym and I see it on players’ workouts on the message boards on the web. Not to mention, I would spend almost 10 minutes on this every practice as a coach and nearly 15 to 20 minutes as a player.

I think this is a mistake, because most of the meaningful ball handling during a game occurs on the move. Many coaches also preach if you are going to dribble, make sure you are going somewhere with it. So shouldn’t we spend the majority of our ball handling work on the move?

Well, you might also argue that if you are working on stationary ball handling or ball handling on the move, it doesn’t matter because they are going to get better at handling the ball.

That is somewhat true. However, dribbling on the move is a slightly different skill than dribbling while stationary. Hand position and the angle of the dribble are different. When dribbling on the move, your hand will be slightly behind the ball rather than having your hand on top of the ball. The ball is also being pushed forward and sometimes backwards at different angles rather than dribbling the ball straight into the ground. You also add the additional facet of lower-body movement. Combining coordination between the upper and lower bodies can be difficult for some, so it needs to be practiced.

Now, back to the original question…
Is stationary ball handling wasting valuable practice time?

Yes and no. I think the answer to this question is situational.

Are you working with beginners?

With beginners, you may want to start with stationary ball handling to help them progress to dribbling on the move and build some confidence.

On the other hand, an intermediate to advanced player may skip stationary ball handling. Their time may be better spent on practicing moves off the dribble. Or in a team setting, your time may be better spent on game-like situational drills that force the player to make the decisions with the basketball. A couple of drills would be the 1 on 2 Drill and 3 on 2, 2 on 1 Transition Drill.

How much time do you have for practice or a skill session?

If you are short on time, you might want to practice skills that are more important. You might want to use drills that are going to give you the biggest bang for your buck.

If you have 90 minutes, you might be able do some stationary work for 5 minutes. If you have 60 minutes, maybe you want to skip it or spend 2 to 3 minutes on it.

What are you doing and why are you doing it? What is the purpose?

Some coaches use stationary ball handling to improve hand-eye coordination and rhythm.

Some coaches use it as a beginning progression.

Some coaches use it as part of the warm up.

Some coaches use it for 3 to 5 minutes to improve ball handling.

These are some extremely valid and important reasons to do so.

Here is a sample 2 ball workout that I like to use for 3 to 5 minutes that meets all of the previous statements.

Ball Slaps – 10 seconds
Finger Tips – 10 Seconds
Figure 8 (No Dribble) – 15 to 30 Seconds
Two Ball Pound Alternating Heights – 15 to 30 Seconds
Two Ball Front to Back – 15 Seconds
Two Ball Side to Side – 15 Seconds
Two Ball Alternating Dribble – 15 to 30 Seconds

Then, I like to practice 1 or 2 difficult advancements. Here are some samples:
Two Ball Figure 8 Dribble – 30 Seconds
Two Ball – One Crossover, One Between the Legs – 30 Seconds
Dribbling with Tennis Ball Tosses off the wall – 30 seconds

Final Thoughts:

You will often see trainers doing crazy stationary ball handling drills. Some of these trainers are good. Some are bad. Just because someone can dribble 4 basketballs at once while rotating 5 tennis balls around their head does not validate them as a good trainer, even though, it is a cool trick and fun to watch.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for kids going in the driveway and doing tricks with the ball to have fun, but when it comes to a practice or a skill session I believe that your time needs to be used in a more efficient manner in order to produce skilled basketball players.

Now, let’s say that you take that extra 10 to 20 minutes spent on ball handling and apply it to developing more important basketball skills that applicable to the game or take part of that time to develop athleticism, don’t you think that would make a better basketball player?

Tell us what you think…

Respect

By Joe Haefner

This was passed on to us by a coaching friend, Bud Leonard.

Respect.

This is a topic I have spoken on at many camps and to quite a few young basketball players across the province. I feel that it is the basis of a good understanding and attitude toward the game of basketball. Respect is the foundation and building block to many things that are, or should be, important to you as a player and a person.

To start with, you must have self respect. Not the phony chest beating macho kind you see on the streets and on TV, but the kind that can serve you well in all that you do. Self respect doesn’t include being aggressive, a show off, or the center of attention; that is known as bravado and often denotes a “thug” or “smart alec”. Self respect is the inner assurance that you know how to do the right thing and are prepared to do so. It is that something inside you that lets you know that what you are doing or how you are playing is the ‘right way” and will end in satisfaction for you.

You must always respect your team mates. They are very important to you; they are part of your team, now and forever. In future years they will become a large part of the bank of memories you have about your basketball experience. At present you may feel that you are a better player than they are. That may be true at present, but it is up to you to help them become better! You can’t accomplish this by making fun of them and their efforts to play the game that only beats them down. What you can do is respect their efforts and show them that you care about them and need them as a team mate. Remember that nobody misses a shot, drops a pass, or runs the wrong play on purpose; and you must respect the effort they make.

Respect for your opponent is also necessary. They are players just like you, playing a game they love, just for the fun of it .If they seem to be the type of player who is a “show boater”, show them the right way to play through your style as a player. There is no need to “chirp” at them all game long, just play your game and they will learn. Your sense of self respect just may change theirs!

A great aspect of respect shown by the best players is that shown to the game officials.These men, or ladies, are mostly former players who are “giving back” to the game. They have one of the toughest jobs on the court. Yes, they will make a mistake on occasion; this is not done on purpose, just as you don’t miss a shot or fail to rebound on purpose. The more respect you show to the officials, the more respect they will have for you as a player and as a person.

Respect for the coaches is mandatory. Your coaches are there giving up their time to help you to become a better player. They were all once players and understand how difficult the game can be , how time consuming practices can be when homework needs to be done , and how much you want to win. Mostly they are there to help you succeed!

If you can master the art of respect, and show it in your play and attitude at practice and during games, your game, and your enjoyment of the game, will increase to levels you never expected.

Coach Bud Leonard.

The Player’s Point Of View (They Like Defense Too!?)

By Joe Haefner

Here is another guest post from our friend Coach Ken Sartini.

This is a response from one of his former players about his favorite things playing for Coach Sars.

• Playing against 6 defenders.
• Defense footwork drills. These built endurance and desire to play D!
• Working on running our fastbreak lanes.
• Help side defense. Learning how to play up the line.
• Having knowledge of what our opponent was going to do so we can prepare with repetition on how we will run our sets in games. EX: the GNB game (they were ranked #8 in the State at the time) we executed that game plan perfectly both offense and defense. The way we practiced was how we played the game…… We were always more prepared than the other team.
• I think the way we practiced…ALWAYS HARD…. Made us have that same mentality in games, very important!

To be honest, everything we did in practice had a direct correlation to our games, we had no wasted time.

TIME OUT PLEASE!

By Joe Haefner

Here is another guest blog post by our coaching friend, Bud Leonard.

The game is on.

You are working hard. The crowd is on their feet cheering. The basketball pops loose and is headed out of bounds. You sprint to the ball and leap to catch it. As you fly through the air with the ball in your hands you realize that you are headed out of bounds.

To save the possession you quickly call for a time-out.

The Referee blows his whistle and awards you the time out. All of your friends in the stands are standing and cheering for you.

You notice that your coaches are not cheering.

They are looking at you as if they would like to kill you!

Why?

Then you notice the score clock.

The clock shows you that the score is tied at 8 points each with 1:23 left in the first quarter. Your coaches would much rather give up one possession of the ball at this early part of the game and save the time out for later when it may be needed to rest the team, settle the team down during a period of confusion, or to set up a play near the end of the game.

You have watched numerous NCAA basketball games on TV and the coach has never been upset when a player calls a time out to save the possession arrow. Why is it not important to those coaches?

You must realize that televised NCAA games have TV timeouts run by the networks. These time outs are often two minutes long. They are called at regular intervals by the scorers table where a TV representative calls the time out according to a schedule agreed upon by the networks and the NCAA. That doesn’t happen in our league!

Time outs are precious.

Your coaches will tell you when you may call a time out.

This is one of the reasons your coaches instruct you to both listen for their voices and to look at the bench during each break in the game.

Now that you have read this, you too should value your time outs!

The Philosophy That Will Guide Us..

By Joe Haefner

Here is a guest blog post by our coaching friend Bud Leonard.

Being a varsity athlete is a privilege … not a right! People compete for the opportunity to wear your school’s uniform .The level of commitment to training that is expected is high. While you are an athlete, you will be expected to place your participation in third place on your overall list of priorities…

Your Priority List as an athlete!

1. Faith and Family
2. Education – the successful completion of your Secondary School education.
3. An athlete on our school’s teams.
4. Everything else – part time job, social events, friends, acquaintances, etc.

You will only have one window of opportunity in your life to be an athlete on your school’s teams. Make the most of it! You will be expected to train twelve months of the year to maintain and improve. Your goal at the end of each season should be to come back in September a fitter, stronger, more skillful, and more intelligent player than you were the previous year! You must aim for consistently high effort on a daily basis and for constant improvement. If you are not working to get ahead… you are going backwards!

You will get as much playing time as you earn and deserve. Playing time will not be promised in this program! Playing time is based strictly on merit! How much playing time you merit will be determined by multiple factors.

1. How hard do you work?
2. Do you practice hard on a daily basis?
3. How athletic, skilled and intelligent are you as a player?
4. Are you a leader, and do you make your teammates better players?
5. Are you a team player? Is the most important statistic in your game the final score?
6. How have you performed in recent games? Do you play hard and smart within the team?
7. Are you coachable? Can you accept that coaching involves criticism?
8. Are you better able to contribute to the team objective … winning games … than teammates who currently get more playing time than you?
9. Are you able to honestly answer question 8?

The bottom line is that you control your attitude and your effort… and little else! Sometimes you must accept that others are currently more ready and able to contribute toward the team’s effort to win the game than you are. If you can accept this and remain positive… while continuing to work hard to improve yourself… then you can always be a valuable team member. If you cannot accept this … and become negative toward teammates, coaches, and staff… then you will become a “cancer”. While there are cures for “cancer”… and sometimes these take time… in the end, if the “cancer” cannot be cured, the only solution will be surgery! The “cancer” will have to be separated from the team.

4 Ball Handling Tips from the Nike National Skills Academy (VIDEO)

By Joe Haefner

This is a short video taken from the Nike National Skills Academy. Kevin Eastman who is an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics is shown throughout the video. If you look closely, you’ll also notice players like Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, Derrick Rose, Sherron Collins, and other great players from their high school days that are currently at the collegiate level and in the NBA.

4 Ball Handling Tips From the Video:

1. Hold position, be strong

Too often, many players let a little contact throw them off their game. The first drill in the video is meant to get players to handle the ball and maintain their ground through contact.

2. Crossover outside your knee

In the video, Coach Eastman says to cross outside your knee to keep it more game-like. It’s crucial to do this, because it keeps the ball away from the defender after you cross over.

3. Use eyes to sell fakes

Eyes up to shot fake – Before you shoot the ball, you usually look at the rim. By looking at the rim, this helps sell your shot fake because the defensive player thinks you are about to shoot. When I played, I rarely pump faked. I aggressively set my feet, focused on the rim, and put the ball in shooting position. By putting the ball in my shooting position and aggressively setting my feet, I could often drive by defenders, because they would often close out too hard or jump because it looked like I was going to shoot. If they did not close out hard, I pulled up for the jump shot.

Eyes down to shoot – If you put your eyes down, the defensive player thinks you are going to drive and that may cause the defender to give you some cushion which opens up the jump shot.

4. Get out of your comfort zone

In order to get better, it’s crucial to challenge yourself and make mistakes. To me, this is one of the biggest problems with youth and high school players. Too many players are worried about how they look when they practice. That was one of my biggest problems in high school as well. I didn’t like to make mistakes, so I never pushed myself outside of my comfort zone.

If you practice only things that are comfortable, then you will never improve very much.

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NBA Player Offseason Workouts – Part 2

By Don Kelbick

August 10

Back at it after another forced layoff. The one thing we were trying to avoid was re-injuring Raja’s calf muscle. He decided to try to play a little bit and wound up tweaking it. It is the same calf muscle that he hurt during the season and forced him to sit out the last nine games of the season. So we took some time off for therapy and then got back at it.

All I wanted to do was get the ball back in his hands. We started with short-longs for a warm up. We then went to wing shooting, catch and shoot, from both sides and the top. The next progression was the same drill with one dribble in the same direction. It started out slow but once he regained his rhythm he wound up making 24 in a row.

From there we moved to trailer shots. Moving from mid-court, trailing from each side of the lane, first was catch and shoot, next a 1-dribble counter and then a 2nd-dribble counter.

We then went inside and did front pivot jumpers and quick turns.

We finished up with some break work, handling on the run from mid-court, 2 dribbles into a shot.

We finished with 310 makes and, with the exception of screen work, touched most of the areas that he wants to improve on.

August 11

Rasual Butler joined us today. He has been lifting and boxing for 4 weeks and looks great. Rasual is coming off a great year. After two years ago not even dressing for 59 games, last year he started 72 games and averaged 12ppg. I think that is a direct result of the work he put in last summer.

Rasual is a shot hound. The more reps the better. He is much different than Raja in that Raja has several areas he wants to work on to become more complete. Rasual feels his ticket is his shot. He shoots so many shots that I can’t believe his shoulder and wrist don’t develop tendonitis. I know I throw him so many passes that my arms hurt.

After the short/long, we went to 5/5/5 to get into some rhythm and footwork. Then wing shooting on both sides, top and wing and across the top. From there, we went to corner fades, and wing pin downs. In the blink of an eye, we were up to 300 made shots. We then went to trailer shots, both catch and shoot and 1-dribble counters. We finished up with making 5 out of 7 from seven spots and shooting 15 foul shots for a total of 500 made shots in about an hour and ten minutes.

Rasual then told me that he might not be in tomorrow because he thinks he is being traded to the Clippers and might have to go to LA.

August 12

Woke up today with the news that Rasual, in fact, has been traded to the Clippers. I hope this is a good move for him as he has been told that he is a projected starter at one of the wing positions.

Started with short/longs with Raja. I really think that little drill has value as it really sets up your shooting rhythm and gets you loose. 140 shots in a few minutes will raise your core body temperature pretty quickly.

We then went to screen work, running fades and curls off win screens. First with no dribble, then with 1 dribble. New York cuts off of wing screens, again with no dribble then with 1 dribble.

I had mentioned earlier how Raj likes to mentor younger kids. There was a 14 year old shooting with his father on the next court. Every chance they got, they would come over and watch. During a break, Raja went over to introduce himself. He then asked the kid if he wanted to join us. I can’t believe how wide his eyes got. He joined us for the wing screens.

We then went to trailer shots, 1 dribble counters, off the break, and then with a second dribble change.

Quite a bit of running in this workout so we finished with some spot shooting from 5 spots and some foul shots.

August 13

We started today with some foot work, doing chair pivot with drop steps, front pivots and then inside pivot. As we changed pivots we progressively moved further outside. Inside pivots were done at about 18’. We then went to inside pivot counter with 1 dribble. If we were doing it in the post, the counter would be to a power move, but on the wing the dribble is used to create a pull up jumper.

We then progressed to L-cuts from the wing, first a catch and shoot and then to an offensive move. We then moved the starting point to the wing and ran the same options cutting to the top.

We then went into the post for front pivot fades and quick turns for layups.

Next was wing screen work, over the top and then turn downs. Then I acted as the screen defender and hedged the ball screen. First, was dribble splits with a high hedge and then we worked on dragging the hedgeman to force a switch.

We closed with 5/7 from 7 spots.

August 14

Today was an off day. During the workout season, just like the regular season, rest is important. The most common type of injury is not abrasions, bruises or contusions but overuse injuries. Too much work will take you off the court, due to strains, pulls and fatigue. Overuse is the primary cause of tendonitis, a common condition in athletes. Once you have it, the only cure is rest. During the season, rest is hard to come by so we try to stay pro-active by scheduling in off days. This is one of those days when Raja lifts, but does not workout.

August 15

Back at it. Today is repetition day. I usually categorize the workouts when we have a regular workout. All workouts contain shot repetitions, footwork, conditioning and ball handling. How we work on those is dependent on the type of workout. I try to vary them so the players don’t get bored or stale. The categories are repetition, where we just concentrate on a high volume of shots; fast break, where we run up the floor and simulate skills coming off break options; screens, where we concentrate on reading and coming off all types of screens (except ball screens) and position, where we work on things specific to the players position, such as getting open on the wing, ball screens, post ups, pop outs, etc. This is also when we take pieces of his offense and his role during the season and try to incorporate them into drills.

We started with 5/5/5 from 7 spots. Then moved on to wing shooting. We used 5 spot instead of the 3 we usually use. The spots were: wing-to-corner, wing-to-elbow, elbow-to-elbow, elbow-to-wing and wing-to corner. Making 15 shots in each series usually works out to be a pretty good drill. The conditioning in a repetition workout comes from the intensity and the rapid succession of the drills, as opposed to the movement needed to cover ground. We take no breaks for the entire workout and only shoot fouls at the end. In about 15-20 minutes, we were quickly up to 180 shots.

We then moved on to about 15’ with back to the basket shots. These are usually front pivot jumpers, some with counters and dribbles, and what we call “quick turns.” A quick turn is essentially a front pivot which turns into a sort of a spin or wheel turn because the end result is a lay-up instead of a jump shot. Larry Brown, the Bobcat coach, likes miss-matches and they feel that if they get Raja isolated against a slower player (and there aren’t many of them) he should be able to out-quick them to the whole. At the very least, he might be able get to the foul line.

We then went back outside and did a flare drill in which the shooter catches going away from the passer, the ball comes over the top for either a jump shot or a 1-dribble shot.

We then went out to the top, come from mid-court, catch from the wing (as if the shooter was a trailer) and then; catch and shoot, catch and 1-dribble shot, catch and 2nd-dribble change. Since he believes that he will handle the ball more this year, I try to have him make 1 dribble moves and add in a 2nd dribble counter as much as I can.

We finished up with 70 3’s, 10 from each of 7 spots.

August 16

Today was play day. Miami, or Florida for that matter, is not known as a basketball area. Even if that is so, there is an enormous number of NBA players, past, future and current, that live down here. It is traditional that they all get together and play at Miami High at 10 am on Sunday mornings. Some Sundays, you might see more NBA players on the court at Miami High than you would in an NBA game. Regulars include Carlos Boozer, Udonis Haslem, Jason Williams, Tim Hardaway, Rasual Butler, Carlos Arroyo, Glen Rice, James Jones, John Salmons and more, in addition to a lot of local college and international players. They get some pretty good runs going.

It is usually a pretty good test and allows us to gage how we are progressing.

August 17

We usually emphasize the things that Raja feels did not go well on play day. Today, we worked on coming off screens. I think the reason he didn’t come off screens well on Sunday is because, in pickup games, nobody screens. There is no flow and the ball is usually not delivered properly. Regardless of that, he feels he should be able to overcome those types of errors and still be able to make shots.

We started with short/longs and immediately went into corner pins where the cuts were a fade to the corner. Next was wing screen downs, using curl cuts and popping out behind the screen.

Next were flare screens. As we worked the flares, we started to ease into a little ballhandling. The first set was a catch and shoot off the flair. The second was catch, shoot and sweep away with 1 dribble. The 3rd was catch, sweep 1 dribble and then a 2nd dribble counter. The last set was catch and then rip back to the middle.

The next screen was a zipper screen, first to a catch and shoot and then to a ball screen on top.

Moving on to ball screens, we went to the wing where we worked dribble screens for shots and then turn-downs.

We finished up with a game of 5/7 from NBA 3 point range, from 7 spots. At one point he made 19 in a row.

August 18

Don’t let anyone tell you that NBA players don’t work hard. Carlos Boozer was in the gym today. It has been a different summer for him this year. He had announced early that he was going to exercise to out clause in his contract next year (probably a mistake. Not exercising it but announcing it). He is now involved in an ugly divorce from the Utah Jazz. They are frantically trying to trade his, while he has value, before they lose him as a free agent. His salary is so high that he doesn’t fit the salary cap for many teams. Plus, if they wait, they know they can get him as a free agent and not lose any of their current players or draft picks. It is a tough situation. Even with that swirling around him, he works as hard as anyone. In the gym, trying to get better. Wherever he winds up, he’ll be ready.

We started with footwork, doing chair pivots. We only did the basic pivots, drop step, front pivot, inside pivot. We did not do counters.

Next was wing play, into which we incorporated the counters that we did not do in the footwork drills. We went with L-cuts to the wing with a catch and shoot from about 23 feet. The footwork is the same as an inside pivot. Logically, the next step is an L-cut to a sweep counter with 1 dribble. We try to cover as much ground as possible with 1 dribble. We try to get a lay-up or, at worst, a pull up jumper inside 8 feet. We then go to a 2nd-dribble change. We also worked a catch and rip into the seam, with 1 dribble.

Next we worked 1 and 2 dribble shots from the high wing, starting with the ball about 28 feet from the basket. First we worked the first move going toward the middle and then the first move going up the sideline.

We next worked break shots, first running up to the corner and then trailer shots.

We finished up with a 7 spot, 5/7. At one point he made 14 in row and 19 of 21.

August 19

Before the workout today, Raja stated his goals for the upcoming season; 90% from the line, 45% from the floor and 42% from 3. He believes that, in Larry Brown’s system, he can accomplish that. The way that he is used to will give him more opportunities closer to the basket that he had in Phoenix. That will translate into a better shooting percentage and more foul shot opportunities. He probably won’t get as many as 3 opportunities, but the ones he will get might be better looks.

We started with a Mikan Drill, both frontward and backward. We then when to some chair pivots with the chairs spread a little further apart. He can tell already that there would be more conditioning in this workout. We also wanted to work up a sweat quickly.

We then moved on to some intensity drills. Intensity layups followed by some X jump shots. After a few foul shots, we went back to intensity jump shots, with 1 dribble, then intensity jump shots with a second dribble change. The last one in the series was an intensity jump shot, with the catch, a rip back to the middle and 1 dribble.

A few more foul shots led us to a set of wing shots, first with a catch and shoot and then with a catch and rip back to the inside. We only did 3 areas, wing and corner on both sides and across the top, as opposed to the 5 spots we did in the repetition workout. That is because doing as much reversing direction as we were doing, by ripping back to the middle, is very taxing, especially on the legs.

The next set was L-cuts to the wing and from the wing to the middle. All the catches were to 1 dribble shots, including rips back to the middle.

We then went to 7 spots, making 10 3s from each. When we shoot 3s, we estimate the distance from basket by using the 3-point line that is on the court. Raja wound up a long way long way out. He really wasn’t aware that they have extended the college 3-point line this year to. I think it is near 21’ now. So, instead of being near the NBA distance, we wound up 2’ further out. Once we made the adjustment he made 19 straight.

We finished up with a foul shooting game.

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Advice To Foreign Basketball Players Seeking College Scholarships in the U.S.

By Don Kelbick

We receive SO MANY questions from foreign players on how to play college and pro basketball in the U.S. So we decided to compile an article with advice for foreign players.

Here is an email Don sent to a foreign player seeking advice:

In a choice between education for the future and playing basketball, there is no choice. No matter where you are or who you are, basketball is only a short term situation and your future (education) is forever. If you are making a choice, secure your future. That does not mean you have to stop playing basketball. You might have to look for games, but they are around. Use the frustration you feel and develop something for the people who come after you so they do not have to go through the same things that you have to endure.

In regard to your obtaining a basketball scholarship, you have to remember that the players you are watching are among the best in the world. Of those players only a few (maybe 20) will play professionally in the NBA. The odds of making it are staggering. For someone in your situation, the odds are even longer. Not growing up in a situation where you play in the best competition will certainly limit you chances. What you see on TV is only the top college level. There are many college levels here, NCAA Div. I, Div II, Div III, NAIA (which has 2 divisions) and Junior College (which has 3 divisions). In most cases, if you are not identified as a prospect by your Sophomore year in high school, your chances of playing Div. I are slim. The lower levels work on a longer time line. You have to get yourself in a situation where you can be seen.

My best advice is for you to decide if and where you want to go to school in the U.S. and where. Once you make that decision, contact the coach about the possibility of playing on the team as a “walk-on.” He can tell you the requirements and how to try out. It will be very hard at the highest levels, a little less difficult as you go down in levels. You might be able to earn a scholarship that way. Not all schools give scholarships and at some levels, like NCAA Div. III, athletic scholarships are not allowed. The odds of earning a scholarship this way are slim but it may be better than the situation you are in now.

In addition, if you are on a professional team, that might eliminate your eligibility completely. Even if you don’t get paid, if you play on a professional team that negates your amateur status, you will not be able to play in college.

I am sorry I cannot be more positive for you, but that is the way of the world. Give it a shot and see what happens. However, your passion, if channeled properly, bodes well for people who come after you. Work for the betterment of the sport. Start some camps in your town, teach others, network with people who can make decisions in your favor. You are in a situation where you have to suffer because of decisions that where made by people who came before you. Great change starts with one person making one step.

Are you up to it?

Additional Tips For Foreign Basketball Players Seeking College Scholarships:

These tips came from a comment Don left on this blog page about Getting a Basketball Scholarship.

First and foremost, you have to get yourself in a position where US coaches can see you.

1. Join a national team.

   It is easier to gain recognition if you are playing with your national team.

2. Become an exchange student or residential student.

   To play in the US as a high school player, you could come over as an exchange student or attend as a residential student at a prep school if you are of the high school age.

3. Enroll at a junior college.

   At a junior college, you can enroll as a foreign student.

4. Attend summer camps.

   If you are not able to come over for school, you might want to look into coming over for the summer and attending some high profile recruiting camps, such as Eastern Invitational or 5-Star. Through them, you might be able to catch on with an AAU team that plays in high level tournaments during the summer.

5. Send over game film.

   Next, you would need as much game film as you can get. Not highlight or demonstration film, but actual game film in regular, organized and scheduled competition. This is very important because not too many schools are going to come to your country to see you play. If they do come, they need some type of indication of how good the competition is.

6. Make sure your grades are good.

   Just as important, if not more so, you need to make sure your grades are in order. Teams will not do anything unless you are registered for the NCAA Initial Eligibility Clearinghouse https://web1.ncaa.org/eligibilitycenter/. That is the organization that determines whether you are academically eligible to play. This is especially important for you. Several countries in Africa, Nigeria included, are on a “watch list.” This is due to a large number of fraudulent transcripts that come in from those countries. It will take a while for you to get cleared.

If anybody has some helpful comments for players outside the U.S. seeking college scholarships, please leave comments below.

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